The effect of mineral fertilizers on the yield of Sudanese grass

Abstract. The article presents the results of studies on the possibility of cultivating Sudan grass in the southern chernozem subzone. One of the methods of cultivation technology for this crop is considered - pre-sowing application of mineral fertilizers, which provides an increase in the yield of Sudan grass when applying nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers at a dose of N60P40, and has a tendency to biologization of agriculture, preservation and increase in the stability of steppe zonal agrolandscapes. The purpose of the research is to study the effect of mineral fertilizers on the yield of Sudan grass. Methods. The studies were conducted in accordance with accepted methods. Results. The root system is better developed in the N60P40 variant. Without fertilizers, the roots of plants 61.5 cm long reach the iluvial horizon of the B2 soil, but with their favorable application in a dose of N60P40, they are found even in the C horizon, amounting to 89 cm. The possibility of deep spreading of the roots of sudan grass into the soil can be used to create new environmentally sound crop rotations based on root rotation, aimed at activating the subarable soil horizons. The application of mineral fertilizers significantly affects the productivity of the above-ground part of sudan grass plants. With an increase in the doses of mineral fertilizers in the experimental variants, the yield of the vegetative mass of sudan grass increases and the cost of 1 t of sudan grass hay decreases, while the payback of additional costs increases. Scientific novelty. For the first time in the steppe zone, studies were conducted to study the effect of mineral fertilizers on the yield of sudan grass.